Sian Thomas, 38, a British freelance journalist taking part in a Peking-Moscow- Paris cycle marathon, has been killed in a road accident in Siberia, Reuter reports from Moscow. Ms Thomas, who was based in Moscow, reported on the 1991 Soviet coup for the Independent.

Reports said a Russian car drove into a group of cyclists on Thursday while overtaking a car in Mariinsk, about 175km from Tomsk.